Cornerstone Courses

Cornerstone courses teach students how to solve complex, open-ended problems using critical thinking and workplace skills.

Students work in multidisciplinary teams to learn through doing, with emphasis on defining and diagnosing the problem through a holistic lens of technology, people, and environment. Students follow a user-centered design methodology throughout the process, seeking to deeply understand a problem from multiple perspectives and accept its ambiguities before attempting to solve it. Whenever possible, instruction in these subjects is “hands-on” and experimental, with the instructor serving as both mentor and lecturer.

**Think you might qualify for an exemption or transfer credit? Check here.**

Cornerstone Outcomes

Design I is a required 3-credit, one-semester course, in which students work in teams on a semester-long project that is different every semester. Students in EDNS151 learn to communicate technical ideas and solutions graphically, orally, written, and through prototype demonstrations. Cornerstone offers a variety of 3-credit second year Design II courses, which build on the Design I foundation while also requiring student teams to manage a client relationship and use commercial software to model, predict, and analyze. Students must check with their major department to determine which second year design course is required or permissible.

Design Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate the ability to:

Identify, breakdown, and define open-ended problems.

Research the context and background of problems and solutions, including user needs and technical requirements, through scholarly and authoritative sources, and stakeholder input.

Design solutions through a cycle of testing, refining, iterating, and feedback.

Equitably contribute to team efforts from start to end on a collaborative project, and participate in learning activities and coaching activities in the team.

Design I introduces students to the above outcomes in a closely supervised environment, and includes these additional Outcomes:

7. Visually depict ideas to teammates, supervisors, and stakeholders through the use of field sketching for the purposes of communication as well as idea development and development through iteration.

8. Model and communicate formalized design ideas through the use of standardized engineering graphics conventions as applied to engineering sketching and computer-aided design/solid modeling software

Design II reinforces the application of the above outcomes in a self-directed environment, and introduces these additional Outcomes:

7. Manage a client relationship, including communicating, soliciting and incorporating input, and delivering a solution that meets client requirements and constraints.

8. Use commercial software to create user interfaces or to collect data for accurate analyses as well as to make reasonable decisions and/or predictive models.

Students who have met these outcomes through relevant coursework at another institution, or through previous full time work or military experience may be eligible for a transfer credit or exemption. Learn more here.